If Jacques Chirac refuses to go to the July 14th ceremony because the Head of Syrian state Bacha el-Assad might be there, he wasn’t always so execrable with Damas’s regime. In the meantime, his friend Rafic Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon, was assassinated during an attack that might have been linked with the Syrians.
Jacques Chirac’s entourage confirmed it : the former French President will not attend the July 14th ceremony. And according to the Radio RTL, the reason is the likely presence (which still needs confirmation from the Damas) of the head of state of Syria, Bachar el-Assad. Concerning Jacques Chirac’s sulking, Rama Yade couldn’t help telling on a show on RMC that even though she doesn’t know “the reason why the former president doesn’t wish to be present”, she can “understand [his decision] because of the close and personal relationship between the former president’s family and Hariri’s family.”
That’s the least we could say ! After the assassination of his friend on February 14th 2005, Jacques Chirac started making a living hell for the Damas : Syria is strongly suspected to have a part in this murder. For example, they worked backstage to help March 14th 2005’s movement obtain the retreat of the Syrian army from Lebanon.
= Bachar El Assad in France on july 14th ! murderer
But it hasn’t always been this way between Jacques Chirac and the Syrian regime. And regardless that before Chirac joined the government (1995), Damas had plotted against the interest of France in the region ! Especially in the 80s where Syria is yet again strongly suspected of multiplying dirty tricks against Paris. This is notably the case with the assassination of the French Ambassador Louis Delamarre in Lebanon during November 1981. Or the attack in October 1983 in Beirut against the Drakkar camp where 58 French soldiers were killed, not to mention a couple of hostage situations. If it was François Mitterand who tied again with Syria by going there in 1984, Jacques Chirac continued the work and wasn’t reluctant to associate with the Syrian dictator Hafez el-Assad, father of the current president Bachar el-Assad.
Chirac indeed went for an official visit in Syria in 1996 and two years later when his friend came to France, the French president wrote in the Syrian magazine Al-Shahr on June 13th 1998 : “The relationship that I established with President Hafez el-Assad for a long time is solid and trustful. President Assad and I frequently discuss the developments of the regional situation. (…) I am particularly happy to soon receive in Paris this respected and prestigious head of State recognized in the Arab world and on the international scene. (…) To conclude, to salute the present and to express my trust in the future, I will only have these words : Long live Syria, Long live France.”
The French president didn’t wait for the death of Hafez el-Assad to bet on his son Bachar, the same one he doesn’t want to bump into next July 14th. Indeed Chirac welcomed him already in 1999 at the Elysée, which was a year before Bachir became president. Then the same thing over again in June 2001 and December 2002 during Bachir’s presidency. But what left their mark on French people’s mind was the fact that Jacques Chirac was the only occidental head of state to attend Hafez el-Assad’s funeral who died on June 10th 2000. For this occasion, he even wrote a letter the same day to “His Excellency Doctor Bachar El Assad” Hard to praise him more : “Statesman attached to the greatness of his country and the destiny of the Arab Nation, President Assad has made a mark in History during three decades. I hereby salute his resolved and respected choice of leading his people on the path of peace. (…) I have no doubts that with President Assad’s decisions, Syria will persist in their commitment towards a fair and lasting global peace that all inhabitants in the surrounding region are waiting for.”
Back in the days, part of the French political class yelled at MP Noël Mamère who had those memorable words : “Hafez el-Assad is part of this range of scoundrels that rule our planet”. On the opposite, the former French foreign affairs minister, Hervé de Charrette preferred a modest : “We can’t say that Hafez el-Assad was a paragon of democracy or a symbol of human rights in the world. Simply, the interests of France in this region are so important that it is crucial that our country always be present”. Incidentally, that is what Nicolas Sarkozy is doing today when he invites a Syrian dictator and his son to the July 14th ceremony.
Translated by Jacky Chen
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